Police K9s

Tracking and Trailing

About Scent Work

Tracking and scent discrimination are skills that come very easily to dogs. A dog can identify smells anywhere from 1,000 - 10,000 times better than a human can. Teaching a dog to track means we are using the dog's innate ability to detect human scent to "track down" where a person has actually walked, whether this person be a lost child or a fleeing suspect. Scent discrimination is more of a broad term that encompasses detecting smells such as human remains, narcotics, explosives, wildlife, cancer, or even detecting when a person will have an epileptic seizure. By teaching a dog to identify specific smells we are able to use this ability to find missing people, locate large or even small quantities of narcotics and even locate the remains of a person buried beneath the ground.

Whether your dog will be doing scent work as a job or you and your canine will be doing volunteer work, tracking and scent discrimination work requires an immense commitment on the handler's part. Just as with any other skill, tracking or scent work should be done on a daily basis to keep the dog's ability up to par.

Prerequisites for having a dog trained to do tracking or scent discrimination work:

You must have a one on one consultation with one of our certified trainers. In the evaluation we will establish what your needs are for having a detection dog and we will work with you to see what best suits your needs and situation. You must have total on and off leash control of your dog and be able to pass a test meeting Georgia K9 Academy's obedience standards.

What is the cost of having my dog trained for tracking or scent discrimination?

The cost of training will vary depending on your needs and the extensiveness of the training. Speaking with one of our certified trainers will help us to give you a more detailed price based on what you are looking for.